The Commissionerate Police would conduct searches in some vulnerable and crime-prone areas of the city in order to ensure that terror elements did not take shelter in the crime-prone places, officials sources said.On the basis of inputs received from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) about possible terrorist attack in four Indian States including Odisha before January 28, the police have started keeping strict vigil on Bangaladeshi immigrants (not refugees) living around the slums of Malisahi, Badagada, Gadhiakhala and Haldi Padia slums under the laxmi Sagar police limits in the city.
“We are very much concerned about the security of the city denizens; so we have started keeping close watch on the vulnerable points including slum areas. If we find any suspicious element or person in the city, we will take appropriate steps to stop any untoward situation,” said Twin City Commissioner of Police RP Sharma.Sources said the immigrants, who usually run scrap business, have also been found involved in many incidents of crime in the city. The possibility of these immigrants giving shelter to terrorists or carrying out such an act themselves can’t be ruled out.
It has been seen that most of the time pimps bring girls from Bangladesh to Mali Sahi of the city to engage them in flesh trade. The pimps and traffickers are also indulged in drug peddling and smuggling with the help of the Bangladeshi girls. Even the infiltrators take shelter in the city slums to avoid police arrest, sources said.A special team of the Commissionerate Police is monitoring their activities and police informers have been asked to be alert in those areas, said Bhubaneswar DCP Satyabrata Bhoi.
The city cops have also started patrolling and frisking in different parts of the city keeping in view the Republic Day parade. Sharma, who presided over an emergency meeting of top cops of the city to work out a strategy to tackle the situation, informed that 45 platoons of cops would be deployed to avoid any untoward incident.
Official sources said Striking Force, Quick Action Team (QAT), Special Squad of the Commissionerate Police, Special Anti-terror Unit or Special operation Group (SOG) commandoes have been asked to be in readiness. If needed, the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) would be deployed, added the official sources.
The police have started conducting raids on hotels, guest houses and lodges to verify the records of guests and ensure no illegal activity is allowed. Police sources said that armed police would be deployed at sensitive places of the city, including the railway station, Baramunda Bus Terminal, important market complexes, lingaraj temple and a few other places.
The police are also monitoring the CCTV footage from cameras installed in 27 important places of the city and have started conducting surprise checks on automobiles at different places, a senior police official said.Though the security at railway stations, famous religious places like lingaraj temple and schools and media houses were not eye catching, security at the Biju Patnaik International Airport was beefed up to keep an eye on the terrorists.
According to Airport Director Sharad Kumar, they have used 67 CCTV cameras in the domestic terminal and 44 more in Terminal-2 to keep eye on suspected elements moving in the airport. “We have deployed Quick Response Team (QRT) commandoes for greater security and have stationed two commandoes each in all 13 watch towers,” he added.